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No charges for officer who shot suspected cop killer

The police officer who fatally shot a man suspected of killing a Maplewood police officer will not face charges.

A Ramsey County grand jury declined to issue an indictment Wednesday against St. Paul Police Officer David Longbehn, who fatally shot Jason Jones on May 1. Jones was suspected of killing Maplewood Police Sgt. Joseph Bergeron.

Longbehn was helping set up a security perimeter on St. Paul's East Side when he shot and killed Jones.

Nearly four hours earlier, Bergeron was fatally shot near Lake Phalen while responding to a carjacking. Officers had begun a manhunt for the two suspects.

Longbehn noticed Jones run out of the woods carrying a toolbox and tried to question him. Police said Jones then straddled the officer and struck him repeatedly in the face with a metal pipe. Longbehn shot Jones multiple times and killed him.

Jones was later identified as one of the suspects in the carjacking and in Bergeron's killing.

The other suspect, Joshua Martin, was arrested and pled guilty to second-degree intentional murder. He is scheduled to be sentenced on August 27. In his guilty plea, Martin said that Jones shot Bergeron.

Officer David LongbehnMPR Photo/Jeffrey Thompson

The grand jury reviewed the case as part of standard procedure for incidents involving police shootings.